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Connected childcare: new gadgets to monitor baby
Crazy, innovative, disturbing, connected objects invade our daily lives and the world of childcare. These spies, supposed to be in the service of the health and safety of babies, fascinate or put off. Decryption of this brand new trend.
The boom in connected objects
In any case, it is hammered to us, a new era is opening, that of connected objects, capable of communicating with a smartphone, of recording our little habits, of anticipating our needs, but also of monitoring our health, even our children.
Puéri 2.0: Health and safety in real time
Baby monitors with infrared cameras, motion and temperature detectors, as well as tracer bracelets for older children, are supposed to allow remote monitoring of children.
During a discussion around this object on our Facebook page, you were very divided. “Some children are very calm and are never far away, but others have a terrible restlessness,” says Caroline. I myself got lost as a child in a store, despite my mother’s vigilance, what a fear! So this tool seems really useful to me. “” The smartphone can be at the bottom of the bag, the bluetooth bracelet, it works every other time, with the risk of being scrambled by other bluetooth devices nearby, warns Didier. It is better to rely on your own eyes and play with your children. And in the stores, we hold hands, it’s without negotiation! Another mother sums up: “I think that this should not release parents from monitoring them, but it can still be reassuring to have something in addition to our increased surveillance. It only takes a few seconds for your child to be kidnapped. I am neither for nor against and I will not throw a stone at those who get it. ”
In the “maximum control and optimum safety” section, we also find “Mother”, whose shape evokes a Barbapapa disguised as a snowman and whose slogan trumpets “A mother, but better”. Mother and her “Motion cookies” scattered around the house inform you that your children have come home from school or that they have properly washed their teeth. Mother or Big brother, we don’t really know anymore!
Second playground for designers of connected objects: health. The principle of “quantified self” (the fact of measuring personal data and sharing it using sensors and mobile applications) can be applied to toddlers. There are more and more devices making it possible to review a baby’s health indicators in real time. The scale of the brand Withings, for example, delivers the weight of the child and makes it possible to establish its growth curve. The scale can be connected with a website, umanlife.com, used as a secure dashboard or a digital health record. This obviously raises the question of data storage. Before providing personal information, potentially usable for commercial purposes, it is better to find out about the host and its confidentiality guarantees.
The concept goes far. Sproutling does not just transmit statistical data, it delivers the recommendations that go with it, indicating in particular what should be, for example, the child’s bedtime according to his sleep parameters.
High-tech objects that are the subject of debate
It is hyper-control that is at the heart of these new gadgets, especially since many of them are presented as tools for the prevention of unexpected infant death (MIN).
“I appreciate new technologies, but they should not replace common sense, human vigilance, or preventive actions,” warns Hugues Patural, head of the neonatal and pediatric resuscitation service at the Saint-Etienne CHU.
Here again, discussions between mothers are very lively. “I guess this thing is just going to ring to warn that the infant is not breathing, but if the parents don’t know the first aid measures to resuscitate the little one, what is the point? », Asks Laëtitia. “I’m not sure that helps anxious parents to sleep soundly,” Marina objected. This other mom claps, “Anything that can take stress out of a mom is a good thing. There are never any gadgets in wellness … I am traumatized by sudden death, and with an alert device, I was able to sleep much better. So this sock is perfect for me! ”
That these objects of a future become present are the subject of debate, it is obvious and it is normal. This new revolution will have to be reckoned with anyway, especially since the players in this market have their teeth in their teeth and parents and future parents are prime targets. “New uses are developing, and at the time of motherhood we are more impulsive, we hesitate less for this type of purchase”, notes Alexandre Pié, of Umanlife. “The connected childcare market is a huge market, because it is 100% based around the emotional and not the financial, enthuses Uwe Diegel, president of iHealthLabs. Then the budget for a first birth is huge. Finally, the market is promising because the demand is great on the part of parents who are by definition, because of their age, all already connected with various objects. Perhaps the important thing is that they don’t forget to stay really connected with their baby, skin to skin, eye to eye.
Illustrations: Visuals 1 and 4: Mother’s Motions Cookies / Visual 2: “Sproutling” / Visual 3: Humidity sensor Tweet Pee